Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle wheel rim, and more particularly to a wheel rim retainer which comprises a plurality of hinged-members fastened around the vehicle wheel rim for use as a run-flat assembly and/or a bead-lock assembly.
Description of Related Arts
Pneumatic tires are commonly mounted on a wheel rim A10 at a position that two beads of the tire are mounted at two bead flanges of the wheel rim A10, as shown in FIG. 8. An annular wheel well A11 is generally formed on a circumferential hub surface of the wheel rim A10 between the two bead flanges therebetween. The wheel well A11 allows the tire to be easily installed into or remove from wheel rim A10 by placing one of the beads of the tire at the wheel bead to hold the tire in position.
When the tire pressure of the vehicle is lower than the standard tire pressure, or the tire of the vehicle is punctured by a sharp object (such as nail, etc.), the pressure of the tire of the vehicle is gradually decreased especially during driving. In other words, the friction between the tire and the ground is multiply increased. Therefore, the temperature of the tire will be dramatically increased that the tire will become softer and the strength thereof will be dramatically decreased as well. In such situation, the occurrence rates of flat tires for the vehicle will dramatically increase especially when driving at high speed. For example, when the tire pressure is dramatically dropped due to a blowout or puncture during running, the driver will loss the control of the vehicle easily. As a result, collision of vehicles may occur. Seriously, the vehicle may be flipped over due to the flat tire. Especially when the bead of the flat tire falls into the wheel well A11 of the vehicle rim, the bead flange of the vehicle rim will be exposed to run on the road surface, as shown in FIG. 9. Vehicle explosion may occur due to the sparks generated by the friction between the bead flange of the vehicle rim and the road surface.
An annular fastener is provided in the current market to fasten around the hub surface of the wheel rim A10 for supporting the beads in position. Generally speaking, the annular fastener comprises a C-shaped elastic band having a C-shape two free ends, and a screw fastener fastening the free ends of the elastic band in order to encircle the elastic band around the hub surface of the wheel rim A10 for covering the wheel well A11. An improved annular fastener may include two elastic bands and two screw fasteners fastening the elastic bands end-to-end to achieve the same function. The elastic band is usually made of plastic or metal to increase the elasticity properties so that the elastic band can be bent to overlap on the hub surface. However, it is difficult to mount the elastic band around the hub surface of the wheel rim A10 because the operator must apply relatively strong pulling force to pull two free ends of the elastic band together and to overcome the elastic force thereof. Once the elastic band is installed, the screw fastener will be eventually loosened by the elastic force of the elastic band and/or the rotational movement of the wheel rim A10. When the elastic band is loosen, the wheel well A11 cannot be covered by the elastic band. More importantly, the inner surface of the tire may be cut by the elastic band, which may damage the tire.
Accordingly, different sizes of wheel rim A10 may have different sizes of wheel well A11. The circumference of the elastic band must match with the width of the wheel well A11. In addition, in order to retain the elastic band in position, a plurality of wedges are provided along the elastic band, wherein the wedges are seated at the wheel well A11 and are supposed to prevent any lateral movement of the elastic band on the hub surface of the wheel rim A10. However, if the elastic band is made of relative rigid material to support the beads of the tire, the installation of the elastic band will be difficult to band in curve configuration and to match with the hub surface. If the elastic band is made of relative soft material for easy installation, the elastic band may not be strong enough to support the beads of the tire. Furthermore, the wedges cannot be securely engaged within the wheel well A11, via any engagement structure, that the lateral movement of the elastic band will cause the misalignment of the annular fastener around the hub surface of the wheel rim A10. Therefore, the annular fastener cannot ensure the basic supporting function due to a blowout and may also seriously damage the tire.